Moline's Musings

Wrestling Wrap

Posted by: Brian Moline

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 9:45 AM

Mark Johnson's Illini wrestling team dropped just their second Big Ten wresting dual meet of the season on Sunday when the Ohio State Buckeyes beat them 26-13.  The Illini won four of ten matches, including Jimmy Kennedy's win over #2 Reece Humphrey, 4-3.  What made the margin of the dual so wide was that the Buckeyes got victories by pin in two of the final three matches.  B.J. Futrell was leading 4-2 over OSU's Nikko Triggas at the start of the second period before Triggas was able to get the fall.  Then at 141, Ryan Prater and defending national champion J. Jaggers spend the first two periods in one long scramble situation before Jaggers was able to get the fall late in the second. 

Elsewhere in the Big Ten this weekend:

Friday's results

Illinois 25 Indiana 6

Iowa 38 Purdue 0

Wisconsin 19 Minnesota 15

Ohio State 26 Michigan 17

Penn State 28 Michigan State 12

Saturday's result

Michigan 31 Penn State 6

Sunday's results

Ohio State 26 Illinois 13

Iowa 25 Minnesota 9

Wisconsin 19 Purdue 15

Indiana 23 Northwestern 11

Oklahoma 21 Michigan State 8

Updated Big Ten Standings

Conference				Overall
	W	L	T	Pct.	W	L	T	Pct.
1 Iowa	6	0	0	1.000	22	0	0	1.000
2 Ohio State	5	1	0	.833	14	2	0	.875
3 Michigan	4	1	1	.750	9	7	1	.559
4 Illinois	4	2	0	.667	11	2	0	.846
5 Minnesota	4	3	0	.571	14	7	0	.667
6 Wisconsin	3	4	0	.429	9	7	0	.563
7 Indiana	2	3	1	.417	15	5	1	.738
Northwestern	2	3	1	.417	9	6	1	.594
9 Penn State	1	5	2	.250	8	11	2	.429
10 Michigan State	1	5	0	.167	6	8	0	.429
11 Purdue	0	5	1	.083	11	6	1	.639

Looking at the remaining schedule for the final weekend, Iowa and Ohio State will be favored to win both of their remaining duals.  The Hawkeyes have Indiana and Northwestern, while the Buckeyes face Northwestern and Wisconsin.  The Illini should also be able to win their remaining duals at home against Michigan and Michigan State, though the dual on Friday against the Wolverines could be close.  If the Illini win out, they would finish third in the Big Ten dual standings, which is where they were projected to finish in the preseason.  Minnesota appeared poised to challenge the Illini for third, but they unexpectedly dropped a dual on Friday at Wisconsin.

The other surprise of the weekend was Indiana beating Northwestern so convincingly.  The Hoosiers looked pretty lifeless on Friday against the Illini, as they appeared to be doing their best to slow the pace of each match to keep the scores down.  In contrast, on Sunday there were takedowns aplenty, including a 16-14 win for the Hoosiers' Paul Young over Northwestern's Dominic Marella.

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the upated individual and team rankings.  I wouldn't expect too much of a change for the Illini, as they won the dual they were supposed to win on Friday and lost to a higher-ranked team on Sunday.  Until then.

bmoline@wdws.com

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